Cousteauís Blue Hole

Located deep within the Blue Holes National Park is a spectacular hole named ĎCousteauís Blue Holeí This Blue Hole is significant as it is one which Jacques Cousteau and his team explored in 1971. Here is the spot where Cousteau released dye into the water and then watched to see if the dye would make its way to the ocean. Indeed later the dye spilled out on the edge of the wall in The Tongue of the Ocean, thus establishing a link between the inland Blue Holes and the Ocean. It is reported that Cousteauís team lowered a remote movie camera into the water which at approximately 300ft mysteriously disappeared, never to be retrieved. It is known as one of the deepest blue Holes in the area, although no one knows its depth.

Ancat along with our partners BNT and Forfar are planning to make this Blue Hole accessible and a must see stop on our proposed 'Grand Andros Blue Hole Tour'. We are building a deck and a pathway so that more people can enjoy this treasure and relax in the revitalizing blue fresh water.

Ancat received a Royal Bank of Canada Blue Water Leadership and Community Action Grant in November 2010 and through good management and a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve it was possible to complete work at three blue holes in the Central Andros region.

The first blue hole we tackled was the Captain Billís Blue Hole in Love Hill, volunteers came together from Ancat, Forfar Field Station, Small Hope Bay Lodge, Greenforce and Andros Island Divers to remove debris from this popular swimming hole located in the National Park. The divers managed to clean all waste from the 30 to 50 feet depths and plan a further dive to tackle debris removal from the 80 feet depth.

Inside the blue hole it was murky and the buddy teams were challenged just to stay together, it was like swimming in pea soup to tell the truth.

Using the grant from RBC, Ancat also managed to hire a crew to remove trash from an old dumpsite located at Gubler Hole, Bowen Sound, Andros. This hole is thought to be a fault line hole as its formation is different to the other holes seen on Andros. No dives have yet been arranged to explore its depths. Finally, Ancat employed a group of men to cut and pack a trail through to the Cargill Creek Blue Hole; this trail leads through virgin coppice with abundant orchid plants and bromeliads to see. This trail has created a must see destination in Cargill Creek which was formerly lacking any land based attractions.